The agricultural industry consistently searches for methodologies to improve the yield of field crops. While new and improved varieties of corn, wheat, and soybeans have contributed greatly to increased yields at harvest, methodologies of field preparation and harvest can also impact crop yields either positively or negatively. Operation of combines to harvest the agricultural crops and the concurrent use of grain carts in the field have been identified as major contributors to soil compaction across agricultural fields as combines and grain carts have both high gross and high axle weights. Further, harvesting and marketing of biomass (essentially the stalks of agricultural grain producing plants) is becoming increasingly cost-effective. Thus, preservation of the quantity and quality of agricultural field biomass is becoming of increasing importance. However, the practice of indiscriminate and random passage of field harvest equipment has a negative impact on both the quality and quantity of harvestable biomass.
Additionally, recent years have also shown an increase in harvesting the crop residue, known in the industry as biomass, which can be utilized as forage, bedding, or other commercial applications. The optimal harvesting (removal rate) of biomass can eliminate the need for deep tillage at the end of a crop cycle which minimizes the oxidation of soil organic carbon and is also a factor in soil compaction. This permits the adoption of no-till or minimum-till production approaches in high residue crops which can also reduce soil compaction and enhance soil organic carbon levels in the soil. Both changes can concurrently reduce crop production expenses.
Uncontrolled or indiscriminate operation of heavy vehicles on an agricultural field unnecessarily exacerbates the degree of soil compaction experienced during harvest. Maximum use of tramlines can control compaction in agricultural fields. Tramlines, as used herein, are designated pathways in an agricultural field upon which agricultural implements drive to perform field operations such as combining or traversing the field. Use of tramlines minimizes soil compaction and thus improves the yield of both grain and biomass. Also, minimization of the rundown of biomass leads to an increase in biomass yields and in biomass quality. Increased biomass yield quantity within a field reduces the harvest radius around a biomass processing plant, and hence further reduces harvesting and associated logistics costs. Increased biomass quality permits the optimization of operating processes in the biomass processing plant.
Further, excessive random driving and operation of heavy vehicles in agricultural fields forces surface biomass residue into intimate contact with the underlying soil thereby contaminating the biomass with dirt and reducing the quality thereof. Dirt contamination of biomass is increased with each field operation such as, combining, grain cart operation, biomass harvesting processes such as chopping, raking, etc. Contamination has a further detrimental effect on baling operations and pre-process handling operations such as drying, particle size reduction, classification, etc. at the biomass processing plant. The contamination continues to have negative effects during the utilization process of the biomass (fermentation, gasification, fast pyrolysis, etc.) and the disposal of end-of-process residue.
Soil scientists believe that there are conceptually two types of soil compaction. Deep compaction is driven by axle weight and near surface compaction, typically measured in pounds per square inch, is driven by ground pressure of the drive mechanism in contact with the soil (i.e. tires, agricultural tracks, etc.). While agricultural tracks have a conceptual advantage over tires, poor track design can result in an advantage for tires relative to compaction. One of the problems with tracks is the ground pressure peak that corresponds to the leading and trailing edge of poorly supported or improperly tensioned tracks. Another problem with heavily loaded agricultural equipment including grain carts, and in particular agricultural tracks, is the creation of ridges (berming) and furrows when used in agricultural fields, especially when turning.
Recognition of the very real impact of soil compaction on crop yields is also rapidly growing and thereby leading to interest in s, both permanent and temporary, to create controlled traffic paths across fields. The adoption of tramlines maximizes the quantity and quality of biomass which can effectively be removed from a field and hence the value of the biomass co-product produced by an agricultural field. At the same time, the routine use of tramlines minimizes soil compaction across a field and hence increases the production of both grain and associated biomass within a field.
Sizing crop production equipment such as planters, sprayers, etc. to maximize the efficiency of tramlines is relatively easy, up to a point. Tramline layout in use is driven by equipment size. However, as combines and similar pieces of equipment get larger, the use of tramlines is thwarted by size. With a 30 foot combine header, it is barely possible to run a combine down one tramline while unloading grain into a catch cart running down the next tramline over. With a 40 foot header, extraordinary extensions are required to the combine's unload auger, and modifications to the catch cart are required to utilize a tramline system. A 50 foot header is commercially available outside the USA and development is ongoing with respect to a 60 foot corn head to match with currently available planters covering 24 rows at 2.5 feet per row (i.e. 60 feet in width). For these equipment combinations, full use of a tramline is physically challenging.
However, current practices during the harvesting of grain and biomass from agricultural fields still require excessive passes of equipment including those of the combine, grain carts, choppers, balers, etc. in an uncoordinated and often random, indiscriminate manner. Therefore, a grain cart configuration is needed that is able to coordinate its tracking with a combine such that as a minimum, the combine and grain cart can utilize temporary tramlines within the field to minimize soil compaction and biomass contamination.